Too Cold for Adventures
by Pizzagames
Summary: A quick little oneshot of Malon convincing Link to go sledding. Yep.


**A/N: So my sister was playing OOT and was about to go to Jabu-Jabu's belly and looked at me and said, "Hey, do you think you could write a story where Link uses that big shield to go sledding?" So here it is. Enjoy.**

"It's not even that much snow. I mean, I know it's still snowing now, but I think it's almost over." Malon pulled the stable doors shut. "You can stay here until it's over. I'm sure my dad wouldn't mind."

Link nodded gratefully, and resumed kicking snow off his boots.

"What were you doing out there, anyway?" Malon asked, setting a blanket on the wooden stable floor and sitting on it.

Link sat next to her and replied, "Just exploring."

"Oh, that's cool," Malon said. "I wish I could just go exploring. Most of the time I just stay here and watch the horses."

"Sounds boring," Link said. "Wait, not that the horses are boring or anything, I mean..You know, it sounds boring to not be able to explore."

Malon giggled. "Well, not many people have free time like you. It must be lucky to be a fairy boy."

"I am _not_ a fairy," Link sighed, correcting her for what felt like the billionth time. "I'm a Kokori. There's a difference. _She's_ a fairy." He pointed to Navi, who was pretending not to pay attention on the other side of the stable.

"It's all the same to me," Malon said dismissively.

Link rolled his eyes, convinced his nickname would forever be fairy boy.

"We should go sledding," Malon said after a thoughtful pause. "I haven't gone since I was little."

"You _are_ little," Link reminded her.

"Yeah yeah, whatever." She continued: "There's a hill behind the ranch. We could go right now. Want to?"

"We don't have a sled."

"You're right." Malon frowned, thinking. "You have that shield."

"Yeah, I—what?" Link asked, off guard. "You aren't thinking—"

"Yeah, I am."

"Fine," he said, taking the Hylian Shield from his back. "If you break it, it's eighty rupees for a replacement."

"Yeah, sure." Malon took the shield, holding it above her head. "Come on, fairy boy."

"It's too cold," Link complained.

"That's your own fault," she teased, poking his thin tunic. "Take the blanket out if you want."

Link sighed. Obviously there would be no way out of this one. He followed the redhead out of the stable and out of the ranch. Even with the blanket, he was still freezing. Malon didn't even seem to mind.

Where had the cold come from, anyway? It wasn't cold at all when he was on Death Mountain. How long had he been in Dodongo's Cavern? Long enough to get cold and snow to fall. He figured he'd wait a bit before searching for the third Spiritual Stone; the icy water of Zora's Domain was something he figured he would stay away from, despite Navi's reminders that 'a hero doesn't take breaks,' or something like that.

"Link, are you ready?" Malon asked, snapping him out of his thoughts.

"Uh, no," he said, wrapping the blanket tighter around himself.

"Fine, I'll go first." She set the shield down in the snow and sat on it, tucking her knees in to her chest. Link watched as she picked up speed, all the way to the bottom of the small hill. Narrowly avoiding a tree, she tumbled off the shield and face first into the snow. Link had been ready to run down to her aid as she remained in the thin snow for a few seconds. Before he could move, though, she had popped back up with a delightful thumbs up. Link shivered as she eagerly retrieved the shield and came back up the hill.

"Your turn," she said, holding the shield out in between them.

"No thanks," Link said, shaking his head. If he had been warm enough to push the shield away, he would have.

Malon persisted. "Please? Just once?"

"No," Link said again, crossing his arms under the blanket. "You can go again, if you want."

"But it's your turn," she insisted, nudging the shield closer to him. He shook his head. She rolled her eyes, giving up as she put it in the snow and went down once more. Of course, when she got back to the top, she asked Link again.

Link frowned. "Only once," he said sternly. "And then I can go back inside."

"Fine," Malon said, smiling triumphantly.

She set the shield down in the snow for him. He sat on it as he watched Malon do before him. As the shield was made of metal, it was cold beneath his legs.

"Ready?" Malon asked excitedly.

"Uh, not really," Link said, trying to sit comfortably while keeping the blanket tight around him.

Malon obviously didn't listen to him, because she then pushed Link down the hill.

He didn't quite make it as far as Malon had. That tree she had nearly run into seemed so far away as Link lost his balance and rolled helplessly down into the snow.

When he reached the top of the hill, colder than ever and covered in snow, he glared at Malon, who was attempting to control her giggles. "I guess you just need better balance," she said. "Want to try again? If you—"

"No, I'm done," Link interrupted through shivers. "But thanks anyway. Do you think we could go back and warm up now?"

Malon looked sad, but agreed. "You're looking a little pink anyway," she had commented. Link hadn't responded. He was too busy thinking.

Malon had said that he just needed more balance. Besides the obvious choice of practicing on the sled, Link wondered how he could get as far as Malon had. There were ropes stretched all across Goron City, and Link could cross those easily. Why couldn't he just keep himself atop the 'sled?'

"What's wrong?" Malon asked him, waving a hand in front of his face.

"Nothing," Link said with the shake of his head.

"Stop thinking about it," Malon told him, "You're never going to be better than me."

"How—how did you know that's what I was...?"

"What else would you have been thinking of?" She asked rhetorically.

"Well, I guess you're right." He looked out the single window that the stable had to offer. "It isn't snowing as much anymore, I should probably go."

"Where are you going to go?"

"Probably on some more adventures, I have something important to do."

"Oh. Can I ask you a question?" She asked.

"You already asked three in the past five minutes, so go ahead."

"Do you have a house? Like, a home?"

"What? Of course I do. And I have friends too, if that's what you're about to ask." He thought of Saria, his first and best friend of few.

"We're friends, right?" Malon asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Of course we are," Link said, wondering why she could have thought they weren't friends. Did she think he was mad at her because she was a better sledder?

"Good," she said, sounding relieved. "Well, you can go now if you want. Thanks for letting me use your shield, have fun with whatever you're doing!"

"Thanks," Link said, standing up. "I'll come back soon, I promise."


End file.
